Beyond Reasonable Doubt
by piccolina789
Summary: In response to the Sept. challenge on GSR Forever online. Someone from Grissom's past wants to destroy Sara's reputation and Grissom's faith in her. More details inside. My first challenge fic! T rating is for a smidgen of language/content.
1. Part One

_A/N: This story is in response to the GSR Forever September challenge. I chose challenge two – someone from Grissom's past wants to destroy Sara's reputation and Grissom's faith in her. They manage to make it look like Sara is taking drugs… and frame her for murder. This is my first shot at a challenge fic. I set it in mid-season 5, when Sara is a little angsty :)_

**MUST include the following:**

**Sara fails an illegal drug test**

**Grissom doubts Sara's innocence**

**Catherine and Greg are the only ones to fully believe in Sara's innocence.**

**The line "Evidence can sometimes lie. I never have. At least not to you."**

**MUST include at least 2 of the following:**

**Someone gets taken to hospital at some point, an argument between Grissom and Catherine or Grissom and Sara, the bad guy/girl finds a way into Grissom's life with Grissom none the wiser that this person is setting Sara up, Sara overdoses, Catherine finds the first clue to Sara's innocence, a pleasant surprise unveils itself in the end or The line "I've always loved you, but that doesn't mean I've always believed you."**

_This will be two parts. Here goes nothing! _

_

* * *

_

Alone in his office, Grissom glanced up briefly at his desk clock, only to discover the end of shift was fast approaching. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, his mind automatically settling on the one thing that had been bothering him for weeks. The Debbie Marlin case.

He had been close to losing it. Catherine had noticed. He had hoped that after they finished working the case, even though it hadn't technically been closed, his mind would be put at ease. No such luck.

A sharp knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. He lifted his gaze to the doorway and rested his eyes on a face he hadn't seen in over five years.

"Hi, Gil."

Grissom stared, gap-mouthed, at the woman's words.

"Elizabeth."

She smiled at him as a million questions ran through his mind at warp speed. What was she doing here? How did she find him?

"You haven't called me that in years," she said.

"I haven't seen you in years," he pointed out in response.

"Point taken."

She took a timid step in his office.

"Oh, uh, come on in," he said awkwardly, gesturing. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm great," she replied. "And I'm here on business, my firm has a conference here every year. I thought I'd… stop by. How are you, Gil?"

The endless steam of questions continued to run, but Grissom made his mouth form words to answer hers.

"I'm… I'm good."

Honestly, what was he supposed to say? The last time he'd seen this woman, he'd lied to her and said he'd met someone else, just because he was scared to pursue a future with her. For a long time, he had believed that Elizabeth was the one, the only one he would love, the only one he wanted to be with. The closer they got to that reality, the more vulnerable he had felt. He couldn't stand it, and he left. And now, she was back in his life, just like that.

He realized she was smiling at him.

"It's… really good to see you," she said.

"You too," Grissom deadpanned, nodding.

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately."

"Ha… have you?"

She was now feet away from his desk.

"Do you ever wonder what might have happened to us? If things had happened… differently?" she asked.

"All the time," he replied honestly, his voice surprisingly quiet.

A quick flurry of movement distracted him, and his eyes shot towards the door. Where Sara was standing.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "I'll, uh, I'll come back."

"N-no," Grissom faltered, both relieved and shaken at her appearance. "Come in."

As he swung his chair around, Grissom squeezed his eyes shut for a brief second. Never had he thought that this would happen.

"This is Elizabeth Martin," Grissom said to Sara, gesturing towards the former. "Lizzy… this is Sara Sidle."

"Nice to meet you, Sara."

Elizabeth took a step towards Sara with a smile. But as they shook hands, Grissom could literally see the realization dawning over Elizabeth's face. She remembered.

At the tail end of their relationship, Grissom had started using forensic conferences as an excuse to get away from the house. Away from her. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but those conferences were the only thing that kept him sane in those final few months. When he had finally decided to end it between him and Elizabeth, he had told her he met someone. Someone at one of the conferences, someone he had more in common with than he did with her. She asked who. He said her name was Sara.

All of it was true. All of it happened. Except for the relationship between him and the mystery Sara. Grissom _had_ met her, _had_ been intrigued by her, _did _exchange numbers with her, but nothing more. When he told Elizabeth her name, he hardly expected to ever see Sara in person again, let alone wind up with both women in the same room at the same time.

He had never, for obvious reasons, told Sara this story. So she grinned widely and shook the hand of Grissom's former, blonde-haired, blue-eyed lover.

"Really nice to meet you," she said sincerely.

"You, uh, you wanted something?" Grissom interjected.

"Oh, right," Sara said. "Catherine wanted me to remind you about the test today."

Grissom stared at her with a blank look.

"The drug test? Mandatory every year?..."

"Right! That test."

Grissom racked his brains and briefly remembered Catherine bringing up the date in a past team meeting. There was also possibly a memo about it on his desk.

"Okay, well, Greg just informed me that his… "contribution" is with the rest of ours, so once they're processed, they'll fax you the paperwork and results?"

"Great, thanks."

Sara opened her mouth, almost speaking, before thinking better of it.

"What?" Grissom asked.

"Are you okay?"

Grissom stared at her.

"Yeah. Fine."

"Okay."

Sara turned towards Elizabeth before heading out the door.

"It was really nice meeting you. Later, Griss."

Grissom watched her retreating back before meeting the pair of blue eyes in front of him.

"Sara?" Elizabeth asked, her tone full of meaning.

Grissom nodded slowly.

"Sara."

"Are you two… together?"

Grissom opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The answer was easy. They weren't. But somewhere along the way, the words got lost in his throat.

"N-no," he managed to stutter.

Elizabeth looked skeptical. And if Grissom remembered her well enough, she looked suspicious as well.

"I'm in town for a few more days," she said before Grissom could explain any further. "I'll call you."

"Great."

Elizabeth took one last, long look at him and walked out of his office. On her way to the front desk, she passed a table lined with jars of liquid. She glanced down at the nearest one.

_S. Sidle_.

* * *

"Grissom."

"Testing's done, results for your team are being faxed as we speak," an anonymous voice on the line said.

"Great, thanks."

Grissom hung up the phone and made his way absentmindedly to the fax machine, where several papers were printing out. He skimmed through them briefly, before something on the bottom of page eight caught his eye. He nearly chocked on his coffee as he read the line four times over. He fumbled his way back to his desk, punching in an often-dialed number.

"Willows."

"Catherine, Gil. I need you in my office, right away."

* * *

"You're kidding me, right?"

Catherine stared at him, half in disbelief, half in amusement.

"No," Grissom said softly.

"Greg… didn't put you up to this?" Catherine asked, the smile slowly sliding off her face.

"Up to what?"

"Fudging the results so Sara freaks out."

Grissom's face explained it all, but he said the words aloud anyway.

"Greg had nothing to do with this."

"Yeah, but… you can't be serious," Catherine stumbled. "I mean, Sara? On drugs?"

"It's what the test says."

"There has to have been a mistake," Catherine said confidently. When she was met by silence, she stared at him in shock. "You _do _think there was a mistake, right?"

Grissom tilted his head ever so slightly.

"I can't believe you," Catherine said, her voice rising. "I thought you knew us better than that."

"I thought I did too," Grissom admitted. "Catherine, I can't argue the test."

"Have you spoken with Sara yet?"

"Not yet," Grissom replied quietly.

Catherine stared at him incredulously.

"Why the hell am I here instead of her?"

"I need to know what to do."

"Talk to her," Catherine nearly shouted, an edge in her voice. "You know Sara, and you know she wouldn't do this. It astounds me that you immediately assumed she did."

With that, Catherine turned on her heel and left the office. Grissom sighed as she went. Another figure passed by the doorway.

"Sara," he called out.

The brunette backtracked.

"A minute please?"

"Sure," Sara said, slipping into his office.

"Shut the door," Grissom sighed. "Sit down."

Sara was silent, but she had a worried look on her face. He could barely face her as he continued.

"We got the drug tests back."

"Okay," Sara responded, a hint of questioning in her voice. They never went over results.

"Sara… your test. It came back positive for cocaine."

Her jaw dropped, her eyes fixed on him.

"It couldn't have."

"It did," Grissom confirmed, sliding the paper towards her.

She stared at it, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before looking back at him.

"You don't believe this, right?" she asked. "You know I would never do this."

Grissom was as silent as he was with Catherine, and Sara was just as upset.

"I don't believe this," she said, standing in frustration. "You think I would risk everything, my job, my life, for drugs? Is that the person you think I am? Because if it is, then you're not who I thought you were."

She stormed towards the door.

"Sara," he said softly, hating himself for what he was about to say. "The evidence… it never lies."

If, at any time during his life, Grissom thought he had seen hurt and anger, he had been wrong. Nothing could compare to the look on Sara's face.

"The evidence can sometimes lie," she whispered, near to tears. "I never have. At least not to you."

"Sara."

"Don't. Just… don't."

* * *

"Give her another chance."

Conrad Ecklie leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I'll quit," Catherine threw back at him.

Ecklie was quiet a moment, obviously taken aback.

"That's a weighty risk you're taking, Willows."

"I have worked with Sara for four years," Catherine said. "I _know _she wouldn't do something like this. There has to be a mistake."

"Catherine…"

The redhead whipped off her badge and practically chucked it onto her superior's desk.

"I'm ready to walk out that door right now," Catherine demanded. "Give her another chance."

"Fine," Ecklie relented, tossing her badge back at her. "But can I ask one question?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you here, instead of Gil?"

And to that, Catherine had no answer.

* * *

Sara tossed the empty bottle in the overflowing can. She was reaching for another when a sharp knock stopped her mid-grab. She made her way to the door and opened it to an unexpected guest.

"Hi, Sara."

"What are you doing here, Greg?"

"I heard what happened."

Sara sighed, leaning her head against the doorframe.

"Come in."

Greg took a few cautious steps into her apartment as she shut the door behind him.

"Want a beer?" she asked. "I was just about to have one."

"I'm good, thanks," Greg said. "And I think you are too."

Sara sighed again and flopped into an armchair.

"You're right."

Greg took a seat on the edge of the couch, observing her.

"Sara, I know you didn't take those drugs."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she muttered. "At least _someone_ doesn't think I'm a druggie."

"I _know_ you're not a druggie, Sara," Greg said. "Your second test will prove that."

Sara forced a small smile.

"And anyway, Catherine doesn't believe it either," Greg pointed out. "She threatened to quit if Ecklie didn't give you another test."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," Sara said. "I didn't see that coming."

She looked reluctantly at Greg.

"What did Nick and Warrick say?"

"I… I don't know," Greg lied.

On his way out, he had paused outside the locker room door long enough to hear a few lines of conversation between Sara's fellow CSIs. They weren't as confident as Catherine, to say the least.

"That makes three to two."

"What?"

"Nick, Warrick, Grissom."

"Grissom?" Greg repeated in shock. "He… noooo. He couldn't have. Did he?"

"He did," Sara said solemnly.

"Aw, Sara, I'm sorry," Greg said, reaching for her hand. She let him take it. She needed a friend right now.

"I just… I mean, _really_?"

"I know," Greg said, running his thumb over hers.

Sara was surprised to find tears building behind her eyes. It was too much, all of it. She couldn't believe anyone on the team, _her team_, would ever believe something like this.

Before she knew it, Greg was pulling her onto the cushion next to him, and she was sobbing into his shoulder. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. He let her use his sweater as a handkerchief and gave her reassuring squeezes when her sobs got louder, holding her until she was all cried out.

"S-sorry," she choked.

"Don't be."

She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm a complete mess."

Greg wiped an errant tear and gave her an encouraging smile.

"How about this," he began. "Why don't you shower… change, and you can come over to my place. We can watch a movie or something."

Sara nearly started crying again in appreciation.

"That'd be great."

The two stood from the sofa, and Sara pulled Greg into a hug.

"Thanks, Greg."

"Don't mention it," he beamed back at her. "Hey, I'm going to run back to my place real fast, but I'll be back in a half hour, okay?"

"Okay."

Sara smiled as she watched him go, but when the door closed, she realized her whole life was turning upside down. She was finding support in the most unexpected places - Catherine, Greg - and coming up empty where it mattered most.

* * *

"So you finally found people who appreciate your obsession with bugs?"

Grissom smirked at her.

"It's not an obsession," he corrected. "It's a passion. But yes, I did."

"And you're happy?"

"Very happy."

"Good."

Elizabeth smiled at him over her plate of pasta. His phone lit up with her old number hours ago, and after the day he'd had, he was more than happy to accept her dinner invitation.

"So, how did the rest of work go today?" she asked casually.

"Not great," Grissom sighed, deciding to tell her the truth. What did he have to hide?

"I had to suspend one of my best CSIs."

Surprise crossed Elizabeth's face.

"Really? How come?"

"She failed her drug test," Grissom said simply. "I had to suspend her."

"Doesn't something like that normally get you fired?"

"She denied taking anything. Our Assistant Lab Director agreed to give her a second test."

"Doesn't sound like someone you'd want on your team," Elizabeth pointed out.

Grissom nodded vaguely, silent for a few moments.

"See, that's the thing," he said finally. "It really isn't like her. I just have a hard time dismissing firmly founded evidence."

Elizabeth leaned forward so that her eyes flickered in the candlelight.

"Can I say something, without you getting offended?" she asked.

"S-sure."

"I don't know your lab, and I don't know your team," Elizabeth continued. "But it seems like Sa- this girl… is troubled. It's probably best or everyone, for you, for her and for the rest of your team, to let her go. After all, isn't the reputation of your lab at stake?"

"I suppose…"

"Can I say something else?"

"Sure."

"When I asked you if you ever thought about us… you said all the time," Elizabeth said in a low voice. "I do too… think about us. More so lately. I miss you, Gil. I miss having you in my life. I miss what we had."

Grissom searched for the words to respond. As he began to speak, the insistent beeper on his page began to chirp.

"Sorry," he murmured. "Work pager."

"Go ahead."

Grissom pulled the pager from his pants pocket and stared at the message several minutes longer than usual.

"Gil?"

He read it over and over, a strange feeling of guilt and relief sinking over him.

"Gil?"

"Sorry," he said quickly, directing his attention back to his company. "Sara's second test… it came back negative."

A curious look crossed Elizabeth's face before she fixed her features into a look of relief.

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah," Grissom said distractedly. "Sorry, I just… I have to make a quick call."

He moved to stand up, but before he could do so, his phone trilled. Grissom stared at the name on the caller ID and flipped it open.

"Jim, it _is_ my night off."

"Gil, I need you at a scene, asap."

"What's going on?"

"419 with suspicious circs… nothing on the body to lead us to the killer except for one lone fingerprint," Brass said. "Nick ran it through the Denali's fingerprint scanner and, well, you need to come down here."

"Just tell me, Jim."

Grissom could hear a loud sigh on the other end.

"The fingerprint," Brass said finally. "It's Sara's."

* * *

_Dun dun duuuuuun! Part two shall be up soon! Let me know how I'm doing!_


	2. Part Two

_The second and last part. Thanks to everyone who is reading :)_

* * *

"I don't understand."

Grissom was staring through the one-sided glass of the interrogation room, watching Sara clutch her water bottle, looking nervous and scared out of her wits.

"Me either, Gil."

"Run through it again."

Brass sighed.

"Nick and I responded to the call, found a female DB," Brass said for the fourth time in an hour. "No trace evidence on the body whatsoever. No blood. No hairs. Nothing to go on."

"Until Dave rolled her," Grissom said, still staring straight ahead.

"Right. And we found the fingerprint."

"What has she said?"

"She's been pretty upset," Brass replied, eyeing Grissom to see his response. "She just keeps saying she didn't do it."

Grissom made no movement or gesture.

"Gil, she didn't do it."

"The evidence, as of now, tells us she did."

"This is ridiculous," Brass huffed. "Sara? A murderer? I'll turn in my badge the day that happens."

A silence fell over the two men.

"I'm from the freaking crime lab, let me through!"

Brass and Grissom turned sharply to see Greg Sanders sprinting his way towards them.

"Where is she?"

Grissom nodded towards the glass.

"Why is she in there?" Greg cried.

"She's a suspect, Greg," Grissom said quietly.

"No, she's not," Greg asserted. "She has an alibi. Me."

"What?"

"I was with Sara all night. There's absolutely no way she could have done this."

"Why didn't she tell us this?" Grissom asked, staring at Greg.

"Maybe she's too upset?" Greg said, implying that this was the obvious answer. "Look at her. She's shaking."

"You were with her _all_ night?" Brass asked.

"_Yes_," Greg repeated, frustrated. "Well-"

Grissom's head snapped towards him.

"Well what?"

"I left while she showered," Greg admitted reluctantly. "But it was seriously only twenty minutes. I just drove to my apartment to make sure it wasn't a mess. I was back in no time."

"Crime scene was a five minutes' walk from Sara's apartment," Grissom said softly. "It's plausible."

"I don't believe you."

Grissom turned towards Greg to find him staring at him, pure rage on his face.

"Do you _know_ how much she looks up to you? Respects you? And you can't even _trust her_?"

"I'm a scientist, Greg. I follow the evidence."

"Yeah, but you're also a person. And a person follows their heart."

Greg turned away from Grissom and towards Brass.

"I want to talk to her," he said.

"Greg-"

"I want to talk to her _now_," he demanded.

"We can't do that," Brass said unwillingly. "We have to talk to her first."

"Damnit," Greg swore, taking a swing at the wall with his foot. "You tell me as soon as you're done."

He stalked off, without a second glance.

"Ready?" Grissom asked.

"I suppose."

* * *

"I told you, after shift, I went right home. Greg came over. We talked. He left. I showered. And instead of him coming back, I was greeted by a bunch of officers ready to arrest me."

Sara wasn't crying and she wasn't shouting. She was furious, but rational.

"We're not charging you with anything, Sara," Brass reassured.

"I know how this works," she said, looking right at him. She had yet to look at Grissom. "I wouldn't be here if you didn't have something against me. So why don't you just tell me what it is?"

"We found your fingerprint," Brass said reluctantly. "At the crime scene. It was a partial, but it was enough to get a positive match."

"The crime scene was minutes from your apartment, Sara," Grissom put in.

Sara spoke to Brass.

"It could have been planted."

"Tell me how, and I'll prove it," Brass said, almost pleading.

Sara looked heartbroken.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"You have to admit this doesn't look good Sara," Grissom spoke up again. "The test… now this?"

Sara looked directly at him for the first time, and he was surprised to see the anger in her usually soft brown eyes.

"My test came back clean," she said through gritted teeth.

"The second test," Grissom corrected. "Can you give me an explanation for the first?"

Sara's silence answered him for her.

"We're not holding you," Brass said softly. "But don't… don't leave town."

Sara met his eyes and knew how much this was killing him too. She nodded as she stood, and before she made it to the door, Brass caught her elbow. He pulled her into a hug.

"We'll take care of this, Sara," he whispered. "We'll figure this out."

She nodded into his shoulder and pulled away.

"Stay strong. Everything will be okay."

She didn't even touch the doorknob before everything went wrong. She was unconscious before she hit the floor, and was convulsing before either Brass or Grissom could make their way to her.

"PARAMEDICS!" Brass bellowed as they both crouched over her. "What happened? What's wrong with her?"

"She's going into respiratory depression," Grissom breathed, terrified. "Hypoventilation. Shit."

Brass stared at him blankly.

"Drug overdose?"

"Exactly."

Paramedic crews burst into the room, swept Sara onto a stretcher and worked on her as the left, leaving the small, dim room eerily quiet.

"We have to get to the hospital," Grissom slurred, stopping only to pick up Sara's water bottle from the table with a glove. "Get this to trace before you go. I'll meet you there."

"Gil?" Brass called out, stopping him in his tracks. "Think about what you'll say to her… when she wakes."

* * *

"Tell me everything you know, Nick."

Grissom was at the hospital, standing in a stark-white hallway, pacing back and forth. He had yet to see Sara, although he knew she was stabilized. The doctors had told him she had overdosed on GHB. He waited with bated breath for Nick to confirm his suspicions.

"You were right, Sara's water was lined with GHB," Nick said.

"How did she not taste it?" Grissom wondered aloud. "The saltiness? Sara knows the properties of drugs, especially GHB."

"She wasn't in her right mind, Griss," Nick pressed. "I don't think she was paying too much attention to the quality of her water."

"What else?"

"The print Brass and I found at the scene?"

"Mmhm?"

"It came back positive for two DNA donors, both xx. One's Sara's, the other's unknown. Alex from Days is running it through every system we have as we speak."

"Thanks, Nick."

"Hey, Griss?"

"Yeah?"

"I followed a hunch," Nick began. "I took the jar from Sara's drug test… there was DNA on the cap. It's also unknown, but it matches the DNA donor found in Sara's print."

Grissom snapped his phone shut, too stunned to speak. He could barely run the details through his mind, but he had to, for his sake and for Sara's.

She had been framed. Somebody slipped cocaine in her test and planted her fingerprint at the crime scene. That same somebody put GHB in her water. But who?

Theoretically, the only people with access to both Sara's drug test and fingerprints were the lab. A female at the lab. At least it narrowed it down, but Grissom was still coming up short with any shred of suspect or motive.

He peered into the window at the end of the hall he was pacing. Sara's eyes were still closed, a nurse still keeping watch on her, a machine still beeping steadily by her side. He wanted her to wake. More than anything, he wanted to know, for sure, that she was okay.

But he was scared. He had done the unthinkable, doubted her reputation and refused to accept her innocence. How, _how_, would she ever forgive him?

His pocket rang.

"Grissom."

"Catherine. We got a hit."

"Who?" Grissom urged.

"You need to come down here."

Grissom turned again towards the window and stared at Sara's motionless figure.

"I'm not leaving."

"I'm serious, Gil. Get down here."

For the second time in 24 hours, Grissom stared through the interrogation glass at a woman he'd never believed he'd watch through it.

"I don't understand."

"She was here, Gil," Catherine said calmly. "I know you were talking to her, I saw her in your office. The DNA matched a DUI case from 20 years ago. Case pled out, but the DNA's still on file. It was her."

Grissom sighed and made his way to the door.

"Want some company?"

"I got it," Grissom said firmly but appreciatively. "Thanks, Cath."

Grissom stepped into the interrogation room and snapped the door behind him.

"Why did you do it?" he asked quietly.

Elizabeth stared at him.

"Because I've always loved you," she responded. "And you… still don't."

"_Why_?" Grissom repeated. "Why drug her, why frame her? She's my colleague and a good CSI, what has she done to you?"

"She's more than a colleague and you know it," Elizabeth spit back. "Maybe you've realized it, and you're just not sharing, or maybe you haven't, but you care about her. More than me. You did then, and you still do now. So I had to get her out of your life."

"She'll never be out of my life," Grissom whispered, surprising Elizabeth, the listening Catherine and Brass and even himself. "You're right. I do love her. Why the hell she loves me, I'll never know. But you're right. I've fallen in love with a young, sweet, beautiful, intelligent woman, and I…"

Grissom broke off, staring at Elizabeth without really seeing her.

"I… have to go."

Grissom gestured at Brass through the tinted glass.

"Arrest her. I have to go."

Brass came through the door with handcuffs, but Grissom moved past him, dazed.

"Gil!"

He stopped for a second, turning towards Catherine.

"I love her."

She stared at him for a moment before, most extraordinarily, she smiled.

"I know."

* * *

"She's awake, Dr. Grissom."

"Thank God."

"I'll let you have a moment."

The nurse walked away, and Grissom sidled into the small room, staying the shadows so he could observe her. Sara looked weak and exhausted, and it nearly broke his heart to look at her. He walked quietly towards her bed and her head turned ever so slightly in his direction. He expected her to ignore him. Or yell. Or try to hit him. Or cry. He didn't expect her to smile.

But that's just what she did.

"About time you showed up."

"Sara."

He wrapped his arms around her and she collapsed within them, now letting her tears loose. He gripped her as tightly as he allowed himself, not wanting to hurt her. He listened as she cried into him, and he did everything he could to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Who… who was it?" Sara whimpered.

Grissom swallowed hard.

"My… my ex-girlfriend."

Sara stared up at him, wide-eyed.

"Elizabeth."

She pulled away from him, a look of shock on her face.

"She… your…"

"I'm so sorry, Sara."

She sank back into her pillows and took a deep breath.

"I can't believe," she said slowly. "You didn't trust me."

"If I could take it all back, Sara, I would."

"But you can't."

Grissom was silent.

"I've always loved you," Sara said. "But that doesn't mean I've always believed you. At least I had the decency to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Sara, I'm going to ask you something," Grissom said quietly. "You don't have to respond now, or even in a few years. But I just… I need to ask."

Sara's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Sara," Grissom said, a smile forming on his lips as he said her name. "Sara, will you marry me?"

Pure disbelief.

Grissom dropped her gaze to explain himself.

"I love you," he said simply. "I've loved you more than I've ever loved anything and that includes my job. I want to risk everything for you. I'll do anything for you. I love you, Sara. I-"

"Yes."

Grissom raised his head at the syllable.

"You… what?"

"Yes," she repeated.

"I don't… but why?"

"Why did you ask me?"

"Because I love you," he answered without hesitation.

"And that's why I say, _yes_."

Grissom didn't know what to do first. He ran his eyes over every inch of her, not knowing where to land. He wanted to reach out to touch her, but he didn't know where to touch her first. Thank God for Sara. She always knew what to do.

She reached out and cupped his face, her thumb stroking his beard. Her touch sent shivers down his spine. He tucked a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear and ran his fingers down her arm. He reached around her and whispered his lips against hers. She sighed at the contact and he deepened the kiss, losing his hands in her hair and pressing her closer to him. Time stood still, and he wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, bodies pressed together, but he lost himself in the feel of her, the taste of her, and the feeling of her in his arms.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered as they softly broke apart.

"_If I could have just one wish_," Grissom whispered back, kissing her neck. "_I would wish to wake up everyday to the sound of your breath on my neck._"

He tilted her head.

"_The warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin, and the feel of your heart beating against mine." _

He took her hand and guided it to his chest, looking deep into her dark eyes.

"_Knowing that I could never feel that feeling with anyone other than you."_

His fingers gently caressed her face, her hand still held against his chest. He pressed a soft kiss onto her lips.

"It's always been you."

She returned his kiss, and pressed her forehead against his.

"I love you, Sara. And I _always_ will."

* * *

_A/N: Did it end like you expected? Do I totally suck at challenge fics? Let me know, if you'd like! _

_Poem is by Courtney Kuchta._


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